The City of Grand Coulee has put off a decision to proceed on a "dangerous" building declaration until at least the end of January.

The building once held the museum of Constantinos Vlachos, an inventor and colorful character that was best known for developing the Tri-Phibian automobile, which was powered by a "thermo-hydraulic" motor. Vlachos nearly lost his life when the vehicle caught fire during a Washington D.C. demonstration in 1935.

The building in question has been declared "dangerous" by Gary Lampella, the city's building inspector.

Lampella said this week that when inspecting the building, at 136 Spokane Way, he found it to be dangerous in a number of ways.

"The ceiling is falling in, the roof is ready to cave in and the building is subject to vandalism," Lampella stated.

To a greater degree, the old museum building is a threat to the Voltage Coffee House, a new business recently remodeled and scheduled by Solveig Chaffee to open sometime this spring.

There is barely a foot between the two buildings. "A fire would definitely be a threat to the remodeled coffee house," Lampella said.

At the end of January, Lampella and city officials plan to meet with attorney Tom Geiger of Spokane, to discuss the "dangerous" building declaration.

Geiger represents an elderly Vlachos relative who lives on the east coast.

Geiger had asked the city to delay any action on the building until he could contact the family member. An exchange of letters between the city and Geiger was acquired through a public document request by The Star newspaper.

The city cited code provisions on the "abatement of dangerous buildings" to Geiger, who stated he needed time to contact the family member.

There are actually two buildings on the property. A second building at the back of the lot was not involved in the inspection, Lampella said. No one seems to know what might be stored in that building.

Lampella said he didn't get inside the building but could see from a window that the inside was in disarray and that it appeared the ceiling was about to collapse. He said the building appeared to have been vandalized.

Mayor Paul Townsend said Tuesday that he is reluctant to have the city react this way, having this kind of reach on a private property matter, but "safety" is the overriding issue.

The city might have to "end up in court" to get the problem solved, Townsend noted.

"We would like to see the property representatives step up and do what is necessary to clean up the lots in question," Townsend said.

The city has set up its meeting with Geiger to find a resolution to the problem for Jan. 30.

An attempt to reach Geiger was unsuccessful.